Iranian hackers targeted staffers affiliated with President Joe Biden’s campaign, before he dropped out of the presidential race, attempting to distribute information stolen from former President Donald Trump’s campaign, the FBI and other federal agencies said Wednesday.
The stolen non-public material had been acquired by the Iranian actors through cyber breaches. The hackers sent unsolicited emails to people connected to the Biden campaign in an effort to interfere with the 2024 election, according to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), the FBI, and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA).
According to a joint statement issued by the federal agencies, the emails “contained an excerpt taken from stolen, non-public material from former President Trump’s campaign as text in the emails.”
While no responses from the recipients were reported, the federal agencies said Iranian hackers “have continued their efforts since June to send stolen, non-public material associated with former President Trump’s campaign to U.S. media organizations.”
The FBI reiterated that these activities are part of Iran’s broader strategy to disrupt U.S. electoral processes and sow discord.
Iran, along with Russia and China, is actively attempting to exacerbate societal divisions in the United States as the country approaches the November elections, the agencies said.